Two valuable elephant tusks stolen from Corbett tiger park museum

Ramnagar (Uttarakhand), June 13 : Authorities at a wildlife museum adjacent to Corbett tiger reserve are in a fix after two tusks worth more than 12,000 dollars were stolen.

The gatekeeper noticed a door lock broken and informed the park authorities.

"The two tusks weighing 18.6 kilogram and 18.2 kilogram respectively with a height of 158 and 152 centimeters were stolen from the museum. We never imagined that these could be stolen as these were kept for public display in the museum for the past 31 years," said D.S. Rawat, a warden. "We came to know that tusks have been stolen from the museum. It is just laxity on the part of the administration of the Corbett National Park. The administration must take necessary action to ensure the protection of animals as well as the artifacts of the ark," said Rajdeep, a visitor.

Situated on the foothills of the Himalayas, the Corbett Park is famous for its wide population of tigers, leopards and elephants.

The place is known as the best place in northern part of India to observe magnificent Asian elephants at a fairly close range.

Famous as a tiger reserve with a count of 92 tigers, the park is also home to leopards, jungle cat, fishing cat, Himalayan Palm civet, tuskers, crocodiles and gavials.